Travel
Discover facts about travel. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Travel
Why some Londoners can herd sheep across London Bridge for free
Because ancient medieval toll exemptions are the ultimate flex in modern traffic jams. If you hold the historic title of 'Freeman of the City of London,' a…
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Why slurping noodles is polite in Japan
Forget everything your mother told you about eating quietly at the dinner table. If you sit down at a ramen shop in Tokyo and quietly eat your noodles, the…
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Why Brazil restricts travel to protect uncontacted tribes
You can't just rent a kayak and go finding yourself in the deep Amazon. Brazil's government agency, FUNAI, actively patrols massive swaths of the rainforest…
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Indian Ocean is the warmest body of water globally
If you prefer your ocean to feel like a giant, slightly unsettling bathtub, this is your spot. It absorbs heat so aggressively that it basically functions as…
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Expedited passport processing is completely unpredictable
Paying extra for faster processing is basically purchasing a wildly expensive governmental lottery ticket. Despite the hefty premium, bureaucratic delays…
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Brazil borders almost every country in South America
Border disputes must be exhausting when your territory sprawls this aggressively. Brazil is so colossally expansive that it shares a land boundary with every…
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Why border powers can reach 100 miles inland
The concept of a border is surprisingly flexible. In some jurisdictions, enforcement agents are granted extraordinary search and seizure powers up to one…
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Why Toronto Pearson is so often delayed
Because Canadians are notoriously polite, they apparently decided their flagship airport should punish everyone equally. Over recent summers, Pearson has…
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Wind-powered vehicles race across deserts
Someone looked at a majestic sailboat and decided it would be vastly improved if it could violently crash into massive rocks instead of water. These…
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What the Vatican keeps in its secret archive
With a name that implies sinister conspiracies, it is mostly just really old tax forms. The massive underground vault houses centuries of private papal…
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Houston has coffins shaped like fish
Houston tourists can cheerfully spend their wildly precious vacation aggressively confronting human mortality. The incredibly massive facility completely…
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Brazilians routinely consume tapioca cheese bread rolls
Wheat flour is entirely unnecessary when you have cassava root and a massive mountain of cheese. Pão de queijo is the undisputed king of Brazilian snacks.…
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Why Svalbard residents carry guns outdoors
Welcome to the absolute edge of civilization, where you're technically lower on the food chain. In this Norwegian archipelago, polar bears vastly outnumber…
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The city covered in white marble
In an attempt to visually flex its natural gas wealth, this deeply secretive capital city spent billions coating literally everything in imported Italian…
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Why airport liquids are limited to 100 milliliters
They don't take your shampoo just to ruin your day. Security protocols restrict liquids to tiny bottles because of a real terrorist plot involving 'binary…
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Your fridge magnets may be scratching the finish
Your collection of tiny ceramic landmarks is quietly destroying your kitchen. Dragging these cheap metallic souvenirs across modern appliance finishes leaves…
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Aircraft lavatories operate via powerful vacuum suction
Instead of sloshing liquid chemicals around a moving cabin, the systems use a brutal pneumatic vacuum to instantly suck waste into a sealed holding tank. The…
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What your embassy won't do if you're jailed abroad
If you end up locked in a foreign jail, do not expect your embassy to swoop in with a briefcase of cash. Consular officers will visit you, offer a list of…
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Crossing specific borders mandates a visa on arrival
Instead of pre-approving visitors, some jurisdictions force people to stand in agonizingly slow lines the second they land, demanding exact change in a…
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Swedish meatballs have an Ottoman connection
Shattering the illusions of flat-pack furniture shoppers everywhere. The Swedish monarchy explicitly admitted that King Charles XII brought the savory…
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Vegemite began as brewery waste
Nothing says culinary excellence like scraping the leftover sediment from beer production. This salty, tar-like spread was literally invented to use up…
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Off season travel means everything is shuttered
Travel bloggers constantly preach the genius of visiting prime destinations during the winter to avoid the crowds. They conveniently omit that 'avoiding…
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The fish that can walk on land
Instead of accepting their aquatic limitations, these highly rebellious fish use their strong pectoral fins to drag themselves across the mud. They can…
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Why a lighter roast can mean more caffeine
Different international roasting methods mean your innocent morning cup might give you unexpected heart palpitations. A lighter roast ironically retains…
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